The 31-year-old American Idol alum isn’t settling for a covers-only album, which the label was pushing for. He released a letter to The Hollywood Reporterexplaining his decision to walk away.

“… At this point, we are indeed having the oft-cited ‘creative differences’ as to what my next project will be. Your article was correct, the label is ‘pushing for an (80’s) covers album,’ and feels that this is the only kind of release they are prepared to support,” he said. “While there are lots of great songs from that decade, my heart is simply not in doing a covers album.”